The NCAA handed down a Level I-Mitigated infraction to HBCU Alabama State University for an athletics department staffers role in altering a student-athlete’s statistics on the school website.
According to HBCU Gameday, Alabama State will receive three years of probation and a $30,000 fine as well as 1% of the football program budget.
The NCAA investigation found that in 2019, Alabama State’s former sports information director altered a student-athlete’s statistics on the school website, but that director claimed he was working at the direction of the former head football coach. The names of those involved have not been made public, but HBCU Gameday reporters suspect the case centers on Jacory Croskey-Merritt who began his collegiate career at Alabama State in 2019 as a redshirt and later transferred to New Mexico, then Arizona. Croskey-Merritt entered the 2025 NFL Draft and now plays for the Washington Commanders.
Despite identifying the former sports information director as responsible for the infraction, the NCAA committee claimed it did not have sufficient evidence to hold the former head coach, most likely Donald Hill-Eley, responsible.
Various statistical reports identify Croskey-Merrit as playing in as many as eight games and as few as four games with Alabama State in 2019. One version allows him to use a redshirt, the other does not.
Alabama State University officials did not appeal the NCAA’s decision, but claimed it was unequal treatment compared with University of Arizona. Arizona received a Level III violation and a $500 fine for allowing Croskey-Merrit to compete without certifying his eligibility.
“The Committee’s reduction confirms what we have maintained from the outset — this case was improperly elevated,” Alabama State vice president and director of athletics Dr. Jason Cable said. “The underlying conduct, tied to the former sports information director and head coach, simply does not justify placement among the most severe cases in collegiate athletics.”
